Sensing Opportunity, Vietnam’s Pasteur Street Brewing Expands

Blows me away to look back on Vietnam and think of this today. Amazing how things have changed, I would love to sip a craft beer and tour the country, would be very cool to see. Now I am waiting to see who makes the leap, I could totally see Stone opening up Stone Brewing Vietnam, what do you think @StoneBrewingCo

 

As much as I understand that Ho Chi Minh was a nationalist and really tired of colonial tampering, the beer there really does suck. Perhaps a collaboration between the French and Americans, with their willing brewers, could devise a Franco American No More Hue Saison.

 

I just got back from a vacation in Vietnam and can echo the slow emergence of craft beer there. Yes, it is still mostly a pale lager wasteland. But...nearly every place we went, we found places with some excellent beer selections. This included Pasteur Street, which seemed to be the most common, but also 7 Bridges, a craft brewer located more in the north of the country. Many of the beers are ones I would consider hunting for even back home in the US if they were available. Much of this growth initially seems to have been driven by expats wanting better options, but we found lots of locals also trying out some of the interesting options. Definitely a welcome evolution from when I last traveled in SE Asia a couple years ago.

 

Interesting to note that the now-changing rep Vietnam has for liking the crappiest beers is a prejudice that was directed against American beer drinkers for many years.

I am curious to see how well Pasteur Street beer does in the four states here soon to get it, especially a fruited wheat ale (not one that travels well one would think) that will be their first export. I wouldn't think folks who increasingly buy from burgeoning local brew scenes would be interested, but we'll see.

 

I could live off good pho and good beer.

 

My guess is the challenge for these new breweries opening up is to be able to market to the locals at the price point required for them to make money. My daughters friend did an article for the WLJ blog on the breweries over there last year https://blogs.wsj.com/expat/2016/02/24/line-them-up-crafty-expats-stir-up-the-vietnamese-beer-scene/

 

I gave it a shot 12 years ago: https://www.beeradvocate.com/archived-articles/633/ - it failed to come together due to lack-of-foresight by the owners, primarily in regards to water treatment (incoming and wastewater). It was an amazing adventure!
And I'm heading back (to Cambodia this time) in November to volunteer with Habitat for Humanity's "Big Build," and then spend four weeks after working with a start-up brewery in Angkor Wat. Will report back on the beer scene in Siam Reap and Angkor Wat!

 

Is there a part 2 to this story, or did the failing of the brewpub prevent that? Great read.

 

There is - where the other part is is currently a mystery. I'll have to check some other hard drives for it...
The whole project became a "poster child" for why one hires a consultant BEFORE expensive decisions are made, not 1.5 years into it when you hit the "oh shit..." wall.
Cheers!

 

Do some research on how they farm fish and shrimp in Vietnam. You will never buy it again. And I won't buy the beer.